Macro Editor

Overview

The Macro editor is used to author and manage Macros: reusable expressions that can be referenced across your BimlFlex solution. Macros are organized in the Treeview and support both a list view for folders and a form view for individual Macros.

• Selecting a folder in the Treeview shows the Macro List (grid) with action buttons for managing multiple items.
• Selecting a Macro shows the Macro form with fields and action buttons specific to that Macro.

Macro Form

The Macro form is used to view and edit a single Macro.

Action Buttons

Action Buttons

Icon	Action	Description
	Save	Persist changes to the selected Macro. Ctrl+S is also available.
	Discard	Revert any unsaved changes to the last saved values.
	Archive	Permanently remove the Macro from the active metadata repository and move it to the archive.
	Duplicate	Create a copy of the current Macro.
	Deleted	Soft delete the Macro so it is excluded from processing and validation.

Fields

• Macro: The name of the Macro.
• Expression Language: Sets the language used for the Macro expression. This controls editor features such as syntax highlighting in the Expression editor.
• Display Folder: Optional grouping to organize Macros in the Treeview.
• Description: Long-text description of the Macro.
• Comments: Long-text comments for additional context.
• Expression: The Macro body. When the Expression Language is set to SQL, the editor uses SQL syntax highlighting.

note

General editor behavior such as sorting, filtering, and navigation applies here as described in the Editor Overview.

Macro List (Grid)

When a folder is selected, the Macro List is shown as a grid. The grid supports multiple column set views, including a default view with key fields and a description-focused view.

Action Buttons (Grid)

Icon	Action	Description
	Add	Create a new Macro in the current folder.
	Save	Save pending changes made directly in the grid.
	Discard	Revert any unsaved changes in the grid.
	Archive	Archive the selected Macro(s).
	Edit	Open the selected Macro in the form dialog for detailed editing.

Columns

The default column view includes:

• Macro (Name)
• Language (Expression Language)
• Expression

The description view includes:

• Macro (Name)
• Description
• Comments

For general capabilities such as filtering, sorting, and multiple views, see the Editor Overview.

Additional Dialogs

Archive Macro Dialog

Confirmation box warning against the dangers of archiving. You are required to confirm by both the check box and the Ok button.

warning

Archiving is a permanent removal of the selected entity from its associated table in the BimlFlex Database. The best practice is to first use the Deleted flag (soft delete) as an indication that the Macro may need to be removed.

Duplicate Macro Dialog

This will create a copy of the selected Macro and properties.

Creating and Using Macros

For a guide on how to create and use macros, see Using Macros. This guide covers:

• Creating context-aware SQL expression macros with @@this placeholders
• Building reusable join statements and WHERE clause logic
• Applying macros to columns and SQL fields across your projects
• Verifying macro injection in generated stored procedures
• Best practices for reducing code duplication and improving efficiency